After Year-Long Effort, Karnataka Man and Pakistani Wife Reunite

Daniel, who was overjoyed at his wife’s arrival, said that he had never lost hope.

This Indo-Pak couple finally have a happy ending. Daniel Devanur, who had married Sylvia Noreen, his distant relative at a church in Lahore in 2016, but could not bring her to India, has been eventually reunited with his wife.

After being at the receiving end of the Indian bureaucracy and the slow pace at which it works, the couple is now in Delhi after Sylvia arrived in India on Sunday. They are expected to return to Hubballi next week.

Daniel, who was overjoyed at his wife’s arrival, said that he had never lost hope, and that he would have gone to any number of government offices to ensure that he was reunited with Sylvia.

Almost a year after Daniel Henry Devanur married his love, Silvia Noreen, at a Pentecostal church in Lahore, the couple had been struggling to live together, with Daniel running from pillar to post to bring his wife back to India.

Daniel and Silvia’s marriage was facing diplomatic troubles as Silvia is a Pakistani national and Daniel had been unable to get a sponsorship certificate for his wife. In a desperate attempt, he tweeted to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to help him reunite with his wife.

Daniel had to get a signature from a gazetted officer to facilitate his wife’s journey.

Daniel recounted:

Silvia is a distant relative on my mother’s side of the family. My mother’s family has roots in West Bengal and were staying in Lahore before the partition. I met her in 2014 and fell in love with her instantly. We got married on 25 June 2016.

Daniel flew to Pakistan alone as his parents had no passports, and in the presence of Silvia’s family, he got married in the United Pentecostal Church in Lahore. The couple later got their marriage registered at a Pakistani court. A few days later, Daniel returned home to begin the proceedings to bring his wife to India and had been struggling ever since.

Daniel’s family in Hubballi await their daughter-in-law’s arrival as his parents did not attend the wedding and had initially planned to hold a small reception in India.